CAREER DECISION MAKING OF LESBIAN, GAY, AND BISEXUAL INDIVIDUALS
In this article, the career decision making
of lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals is discussed in the framework
of personal (interests, values, and skills) and environmental factors
and their interactive influences. Suggestions for research and practice
are proposed.
Until the 1980s, the vocational behavior of
lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals had been largely ignored in the
literature. During the past few years, issues pertaining to the career
development of these populations have been addressed. Nevertheless,
empirical research in this area is still lacking. Phillips, Strohmer,
Berthaume, and O'Leary's (1983) proposal of an alternative research
paradigm for studying the career development of special populations may
be useful in directing research in this area. They suggested that
descriptive and explanatory studies are important in a new area of
research. Inquiries and hypotheses may be guided by current theories as
well as by exploratory analyses of descriptive information revealed
during the course of investigation.
Unfortunately, there is a lack of theory
guiding counselors' understanding of the vocational behavior of
lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. Development of theories is critical
for advancing research and practice. Morgan and Brown (1991) have
suggested applying minority career development theories (i.e., those
pertaining to Blacks and women) to explain the vocational behavior of
lesbians. This is a legitimate idea given the similar oppression faced
by racial, gender, and sexual minorities (i.e., lesbian, gay, and
bisexual individuals). In an attempt to explain the career development
of lesbians, Morgan and Brown discussed the application of three
theoretical models of career development (Astin, 1984; Farmer, 1985;
Gottfredson, 1981). Among these three models, Farmer's model seems to
be the most promising because of its comprehensiveness,
operationalizability, and testability. The model delineates the
influence of background characteristics and the interactive effects of
personal and environmental factors on an individual's career
motivation. Farmer placed more emphasis on the study of personal and
environmental factors because they are relatively more viable for
intervention than are background variables.
Hetherington (1991) suggested that the
personal and environmental factors influencing lesbians' and gay men's
career decision making might be quite different from those for
heterosexual people. But the existing literature on the vocational
behavior of lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals has focused
primarily on environmental factors without much attention given to
personal factors (e.g., career interests, values, and skills). Belz
(1993) also emphasized the consideration of personal factors as well as
external influences. To advance the understanding of the vocational
behavior of lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals, there is a need to
conduct more empirical studies exploring the influences of personal and
environmental factors on the career decision-making process of these
populations.
This article discusses personal and
environmental factors in the career decision making of lesbian, gay,
and bisexual individuals. Although Farmer's (1985) personal factors
include a variety of psychological and cognitive components (e.g., sex
role orientation, achievement style), in this article, the discussion
of personal factors focuses on the career interests, values, and skills
of an individual because these factors are of central importance to a
person's career decision making. Environmental factors discussed in
this article focus on the barriers that lesbian, gay, and bisexual
individuals may encounter in the workplace. This article extends
previous reviews by offering (a) an exploration of personal factors and
their relations to environmental factors in the career decision making
of lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals; (b) a critical review of the
empirical literature; and (c) directions for research and practice.
Personal and environmental factors in
relation to sexual orientation are discussed. Then the career decision
making of lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals is explored, taking
into account the interactive effects of personal and environmental
factors. After a discussion of some methodological issues in research,
the article concludes with implications for practice.
PERSONAL FACTORS
Interests
There is a common stereotype that lesbians
and gay men are attracted to nontraditional occupations for their
gender. Some stereotypical occupations for gay men are photographer,
interior decorator, nurse, and hairdresser, whereas auto mechanic,
plumber, and truck driver are stereotypical occupations for lesbians
(Botkin & Daily, 1987; Whitam & Mathy, 1986).
Whitam (1983) reported that 40% to 50% of the
gay male respondents in Brazil, the Philippines, and the United States
indicated occupations related to arts and entertainment as their ideal
occupations, as compared with only 5% to 10% of the heterosexual men
who aspired to such occupations. On the basis of their research in
Brazil, Guatemala, the Philippines, and the United States, Whitam and
Mathy (1986) concluded that gay men's career choices are quite
different from those of heterosexual men. They suggested that gay men
are overrepresented in occupations related to house and home,
embellishment, language, helping professions, grooming, entertainment,
and the arts. According to Whitam and Mathy, gay men tend to dislike
occupations involving manipulation of heavy machinery and physical
aggression (e.g., law enforcement and military). Whitam and Mathy
further suggested that the influence of sexual orientation is not only
in the choice of fields and professions, but also specialties within
fields. Unfortunately, those authors failed to specify how they sampled
and surveyed their respondents, calling into question the validity of
their findings. It is possible that the gay respondents they surveyed
were more open about their sexual orientation and hence the survey
findings may not generalize to closeted gay men.
Chung and Harmon (1994) investigated the
career interests and aspirations of gay men, using Holland's (1985a)
occupational classification system. They compared gay and heterosexual
men of equivalent age, socioeconomic background, ethnic background,
student status, and educational level. Results suggested that, compared
with heterosexual men, gay men scored lower on the Realistic and
Investigative scales but higher on the Artistic and Social scales of
the Self-Directed Search (Holland, 1985b). Gay men's career aspirations
were also less traditional for men. These findings coincide with common
stereotypes about gay men's nontraditional career choices as well as
some of Whitam and Mathy's (1986) contentions about the occupations
that gay men dislike (i.e., those involving manipulation of heavy
machinery) and prefer (i.e., arts and social services). Chung and
Harmon's study needs to be replicated, especially because their sample
was limited to highly educated men and participants were recruited from
one geographic area.
No empirical study has explored the career
interests of lesbians and bisexual men and women, although there are
speculations about lesbians' nontraditional career choice (e.g., Morgan
& Brown, 1991). Therefore, research exploring the relation between
sexual orientation and career interests is encouraged, especially the
study of lesbians and bisexuals. Two questions deserve attention
regarding such research: How can the relation between sexual
orientation and career interests be studied? Why does sexual
orientation relate to career interests?
Chung and Harmon's (1994) use of Holland's
(1985a) occupational classification system seems to be a useful
strategy to explore the career interests of lesbian, gay, and bisexual
individuals. Furthermore, Gati's (1991) hierarchical model of Holland's
six vocational fields may be helpful in interpreting Chung and Harmon's
findings. In contrast to Holland's hexagonal model, Gati's model
specified three clusters to represent the relationships among the six
Holland fields: Realistic-Investigative (R-I), Artistic-Social (A-S),
and Enterprising-Conventional (E-C). In Chung and Harmon's study,
heterosexual and gay men differed in the first two clusters only, with
heterosexual men scoring higher on the first cluster (R-I) and gay men
scoring higher on the second cluster (A-S). Future research may explore
the relation between sexual orientation and the three vocational
clusters.
More investigations with men and women of
different sexual orientations might generate theories to explain the
relation between sexual orientation and career interests. Chung and
Harmon (1994) suggested a theory to explain the nontraditional career
interests and aspirations of gay men. They hypothesized that gay men's
nontraditional career interests and aspirations are caused by their
nontraditional sex role orientation. Yet this hypothetical rationale
was not supported by their data. Hetheringten (1991), Hetherington and
Orzek (1989), and Morgan and Brown (1991) have suggested a similar
theory about lesbians' career choices. In addition to nontraditional
sex role orientation, economic necessity was also suggested by these
authors as a factor contributing to lesbians' career choices in
male-dominated fields. Without a male partner, who is more likely to
obtain a better-paid job in our society, a lesbian may need to pursue a
male-dominated type of job for self-support. These hypotheses about
lesbians may be tested empirically.
Values
Work values (e.g., achievement, work
condition, status, interpersonal environment, security, autonomy) play
an important role in a person's career decision making. One unique work
value for lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals may be the importance
of being lesbian, gay, or bisexual in relation to work. Some
individuals may place high value on being able to express their sexual
orientation through work (e.g., artwork, writing, and political
action). Another important consideration is whether individuals can
express their sexual orientation at and outside of work (e.g.,
displaying a picture of one's partner on the desk, discussing with
colleagues activities involving one's partner, and bringing one's
partner to a social function with coworkers).
The importance of expressing one's sexual
orientation seems more relevant for lesbian, gay, and bisexual
individuals than for heterosexuals in career decision making because
the expression of sexual orientation is taken for granted by
heterosexuals. Furthermore, there are individual differences among
lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals in their work values. Lesbian, gay,
and bisexual individuals may subscribe to different work values because
of their sexual identity development. Openly lesbian, gay, and bisexual
individuals may place more emphasis on pursuing a career that allows
for expression of their sexual orientation through, at, and outside of
work. Closeted individuals may make their career choices based on more
traditional work values (e.g., achievement, status, stability) while at
the same time seeking out job opportunities that allow for gay-related
activities (e.g., a large city that offers greater anonymity). Also,
the work values of a bisexual person may depend on the gender of the
person's partner. A bisexual person with a same-sex partner may have
different work values than one with an opposite-sex partner. The
foregoing hypotheses and questions need to be examined empirically.
Regarding more traditional work values, Chung
and Harmon's (1994) study has some implications about the socioeconomic
level of gay men's career aspirations. They found that gay men's career
aspirations were less traditional regarding the field but were not
lower in status than were those of heterosexual men, suggesting a lack
of relation between sexual orientation and the work value of
socioeconomic status. These results were unexpected because
nontraditional occupations for men are usually associated with lower
socioeconomic status (Stevens & Hoisington, 1987). One may suspect
that these results stem from the fact that most of the respondents were
highly educated. Therefore, replication of the study with participants
at lower educational levels will be helpful.
Chung and Harmon (1994) suggested that the
sex type and prestige of their respondents' career aspirations may be
related to being gay and being male, respectively. In other words, gay
and heterosexual men's significant differences in traditionality of
career aspirations may be related to sexual-orientation differences,
whereas their non-significant difference in prestige level of
aspirations may be because they were all men. This hypothetical
interaction between sexual orientation and gender identity on a
person's career aspiration merits further investigations using
different samples. On the other hand, Chung and Harmon's findings may
be viewed from the framework of Gottfredson's (1981) circumscription
and compromise theory of career aspiration. According to her theory of
circumscription, acceptable range of career aspirations along the
dimension of sex type is developed most early in life, followed by the
dimensions of prestige and career interest. Career compromise, on the
other hand, proceeds in the reverse order of these dimensions. Chung
and Harmon's gay respondents did not sacrifice prestige for their
nontraditional career interests. A longitudinal or retrospective study
(cf. Leung & Harmon, 1990) may be used to explore lesbian, gay, and
bisexual peoples' circumscription and compromise of career aspirations
along the dimensions of sex type, prestige, and interest.
On the basis of their literature review,
Poole, Langan-Fox, Ciavarella, and Omodei (1991) suggested that men
tend to seek extrinsic rewards from jobs (e.g., salary, status,
opportunities for promotion), whereas women seek intrinsic rewards
(e.g., personal interest and job satisfaction). Considering the
hypothesis that lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals are more likely
than heterosexuals to have nontraditional career interests for their
gender, researchers may explore the intrinsic and extrinsic work values
of these populations. Do gay and bisexual men tend to seek intrinsic
rewards, whereas lesbian and bisexual women tend to seek extrinsic
rewards? If so, why? Answers to these and other questions will be
helpful for understanding the career decisions of lesbian, gay, and
bisexual individuals.
Skills
The relation between sexual orientation and
vocational skills has been totally ignored in the literature, but it is
certainly an important question for research. Investigations of the
various skills evident in the lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations
will be helpful for counselors to promote their clients' realization of
their potential. Such knowledge will be helpful also for an
understanding of the contributions of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people
in society.
Although there is no direct theoretical or
empirical basis to guide an inquiry, it is reasonable to assume the
interactive development of interests and skills (cf. Lent, Lopez, &
Bieschke, 1991). Because existing data support the common beliefs about
gay men's nontraditional career interests, researchers may explore
lesbian, gay and bisexual people's vocational skills in traditional and
nontraditional fields for their gender. Are gay men blessed with social
and artistic abilities? Do lesbians excel in "masculine" skills such as
machinery and outdoor activities? Are bisexual individuals more
balanced in traditional and nontraditional skills?
Sex role socialization plays an important
role in the development of vocational skills. People are afforded much
more opportunity and encouragement to develop skills that are
considered appropriate for their gender than to develop nontraditional
skills. Consider a group of lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals who
have nontraditional interests for their gender. Will their fears of
being labeled "tomboy," "sissy," or "homosexual" influence their
development of traditional and nontraditional skills? Can they manage
to develop adequate skills in traditional areas as well as to pursue
nontraditional areas that are of interest to them? How do these
individuals develop different coping mechanisms? These are just a few
questions relevant to studying the traditionality of vocational skills
among different sexual-orientation groups.
Lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals are
often accused of incompetence in certain occupations, something to be
tested empirically. For example, lesbians and gay men are often amused
of being incapable of performing competently in the military. This
accusation should be examined by empirical investigation of the
military ability of gay and lesbian personnel. Researchers are
encouraged to examine this and other myths by providing scientific
evidence.
A related question regarding vocational
skills is the professional conduct of lesbian, gay, and bisexual
individuals. Those who are lesbian, gay, and bisexual are often
considered not suitable for certain occupations because of their
alleged tendency to behave unprofessionally. For example, lesbians and
gay men are considered not suitable for the military because of their
alleged tendency to sexually harass heterosexual colleagues; nor are
they considered suitable for child care because of their alleged
tendency to molest children. Existing evidence (cf. Herek, 1993) has
suggested that these accusations are not tenable. Continuous efforts
are encouraged to refute such accusations.
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
There are certain barriers in the work
environment that are faced by lesbians, gay men, and bisexual
individuals (Croteau & Hedstrom, 1993; Elliott, 1993; Hetherington,
1991; Hetherington, Hillerbrand, & Etringer, 1989; Hetherington
& Orzek, 1989; Morgan & Brown, 1991; Winkelpleck &
Wesfield, 1982). Because research and practical implications pertaining
to environmental factors have been extensively discussed in the
aforementioned articles as well as other articles in this special
issue, these factors are only summarized here. Major environmental
barriers include (a) job discrimination; (b) perceived
inappropriateness of certain occupations for lesbians and gay men; (c)
homophobia, negative stereotypes, and societal stigmas; and (d) fear of
AIDS in the workplace.
Job discrimination based on sexual
orientation is a common concern for sexual minority groups. Employer
statements protecting the equality of employment opportunity regardless
of sexual orientation are exceptions rather than the rule. Furthermore,
there are explicitly legalized discriminations against homosexuals such
as employment in the military and national security (McCrary &
Gutierrez, 1979/1980). The ban against lesbians and gay men in the
military has been in heated debate in recent years. A number of reasons
have been used to support the ban; chief among them are questions about
lesbians' and gay men's ability to perform their duties, security
risks, and risk for AIDS (Herek, 1993). Although President Clinton
attempted to lift the ban, the resulting policy (commonly known as
"Don't ask, don't tell") does not provide a safe and comfortable
environment for a lesbian, gay, or bisexual person to serve in the
military.
Certain occupations (e.g., teacher,
clergyperson, physician, child care worker) are considered by many
heterosexuals to be inappropriate for lesbians and gay men for fear of
their "negative" influence on the people they serve (Hetherington,
1991). For example, parents may fear that their children will be
repulsed by the sexual orientation of a lesbian, gay, or bisexual
teacher and that the teacher may teach their children to accept
homosexuality, "recruit" their children to become homosexual, or
sexually molest their children. Some other occupations are considered
inappropriate for lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals for similar or
other reasons, such as religious beliefs and fear of sexual harassment
and misconduct by lesbian, gay, and bisexual people.
An openly or suspected lesbian, gay, or
bisexual individual may be disliked by coworkers solely because of his
or her sexual orientation. He or she may experience isolation,
avoidance, negative attitudes, harassment, or even physical assault in
the workplace because of people's homophobia, negative stereotypes, and
societal stigmas. Perception of receptivity in the work environment is
likely to affect lesbian, gay, and bisexual people's career decisions
as well as how "out" they can afford to be in the workplace.
AIDS is a deadly disease that has become a
major threat to human beings since the 1970s. Because AIDS has commonly
been perceived as associated with homosexuality, many heterosexuals are
afraid of homosexuals for fear of contracting AIDS through any physical
contact with them. Despite numerous efforts in AIDS education, such
irrational fear is still evident in many heterosexuals. Therefore, the
fear of AIDS has become one additional reason why lesbian, gay, and
bisexual people may not be welcome in the workplace.
Apparently, it is important for lesbian, gay,
and bisexual individuals to be aware of job discrimination and
receptivity in various work settings to make informed career decisions.
Unfortunately, only a few empirical studies have documented actual or
suspected incidents of employment discrimination based on an
individual's sexual orientation (Morgan & Brown, 1991). Elliott
(1993) emphasized the need for information about job discrimination,
prejudice, and receptivity in various professions, companies, and
geographic areas. Providing such information will be helpful for
lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals in career decision making.
It is also evident that more efforts are
needed to educate the public to reduce irrational fears of AIDS in the
workplace. Although an individual may understand that AIDS is not
likely to be contracted through casual contact, the person may not be
able to be free of such irrational fears. Therefore, researchers are
encouraged to design innovative interventions to effectively educate
people as well as to mitigate their irrational fears.
CAREER DECISION MAKING
As suggested by major career development
theories, personal and environmental factors play an interactive role
in career decision making. On the basis of the foregoing discussion, it
seems that lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals may be more likely
than heterosexuals to have nontraditional career interests and skills
for their gender. On the other hand, our society is not very receptive
to such nontraditional orientation. Those who pursue a nontraditional
career are often devalued, stigmatized, or suspected of being
homosexual. Some of them may respond to social pressure and pursue less
fulfilling but traditional careers. Others may persist in
nontraditional aspirations and have to deal with negative attitudes
from family, friends, and colleagues.
Chung and Harmon (1994) suggested that
because of gay men's nontraditional career interests and because of
environmental barriers, there is a catch-22 for gay men who pursue
nontraditional as well as traditional careers for men. Gay men pursuing
nontraditional careers may face sex role pressures and the risk of
being identified as homosexual. Gay men pursuing male-dominated careers
may experience more negative attitudes from conservative heterosexual
colleagues and may go without social support because there is a lack of
gay colleagues. The process of juggling between one's nontraditional
interests and environmental barriers is certainly an important issue to
investigate.
Another important consideration is the
interaction of work values and environmental factors in the process of
career decision making. Researchers are encouraged to investigate how
work values might be a function of environmental barriers. For example,
some individuals may focus on achievement values and work diligently to
refute negative societal stigmas of homosexuals or to keep themselves
busy as an excuse for not having time to date people of the opposite
sex. Job security may be an important factor for some individuals in
fear of job discrimination based on their sexual orientation.
Geographic location may be a concern for some individuals because of
the importance of gay culture and receptivity by the community in which
they work (Elliott, 1993). It will be useful to study how environmental
factors differentially affect the work values of different lesbian,
gay, and bisexual individuals and the reasons for such individual
differences.
To choose a career fulfilling one's career
interests, values, and skills in the face of environmental barriers is
certainly not an easy task for lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals.
Unfortunately, to date there is only one empirical study that has
explored the career decision-making process of these populations.
Etringer, Hillerbrand, and Hetherington (1990) hypothesized that
lesbians and gay men have more difficulty in career decision making
than do heterosexuals. They compared heterosexual and homosexual men
and women on their need for information, and on career-choice anxiety,
indecisiveness, satisfaction, and uncertainty. They found significant
sex-by-sexual orientation interactions on career-choice uncertainty and
satisfaction. Gay men scored highest and lesbians scored lowest on
career-choice uncertainty. Heterosexual women scored highest on
career-choice dissatisfaction, followed by gay men. These findings,
however, are suggestive at best because of the methodological
limitations of the study (small sample, low response rate, different
sampling methods for recruiting heterosexual and homosexual
participants, single-item measures, and nonsigniFicant simple
main-effects). Therefore, replications of the study using improved
methods are encouraged.
Recently, researchers have directed their
efforts in using psychological measures to identify individuals'
career-indecision status and reasons. For example, My Vocational
Situation (Holland, Daiger, & Power, 1980) includes three scales
assessing career decision status and reasons: Identity, Occupational
Information, and Barriers. The Career Factors Inventory employed in
Etringer et al.'s (1990) study has been revised by Chartrand, Robbins,
Morrill, and Boggs (1990). This revised scale is a multidimensional
measure of career indecision with two information factors (need for
career information and need for self-knowledge) and two
personal-emotional factors (career-choice anxiety and generalized
indecisiveness). Jones (1989) developed the Career Decision Profile to
differentiate individuals according to four reasons of career
indecision: lack of self-clarity, lack of knowledge about occupations,
indecisiveness, and career choice importance. Savickas and Jarjoura
(1991) employed the Career Decision Scale (Osipow, Carney, Winer,
Yanico, & Koschier, 1976) as a type indicator of career indecision.
Unfortunately, the aforementioned scales were
not designed to measure the career concerns unique to lesbians, gay
men, and bisexual individuals. For example, scales concerning the need
for occupational information do not address lesbian, gay, and bisexual
people's need for information about job discrimination and receptivity
based on sexual orientation. More important, current career-decision
scales do not address the reality of conflicts between an individual's
sexual orientation and the oppressive work environment. A person may
have a clear career orientation, adequate understanding of the work
environment, and a good idea of where he or she fits regarding a career
choice. Yet the fear of entering an oppressive work environment because
of one's sexual orientation may be an obstacle for career decision.
Researchers are encouraged to expand existing career-decision scales or
to develop new scales that incorporate the common concerns of
heterosexual and lesbian, gay, and bisexual people and the unique
issues faced by sexual minority groups. Croteau and Hedstrom (1993)
suggested that such an integration of commonalties and differences is
important for working with lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients.
Furthermore, career decision making is not
only about choices of career but also about career adjustment.
Decisions regarding passing (i.e., staying in the closet) or coming out
in the workplace, and concerns about partner and career are important
decisions for lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals (Elliott, 1993;
Hetherington, 1991; Hetherington et al., 1989; Hetherington &
Orzek, 1989; Winkelpleck & Westfeld, 1982). Research is sorely
needed to investigate how lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals decide
to pass or come out in the workplace, how they resolve conflicts
between partner and career, and the consequences of their decisions.
METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES
Methodological issues pertaining to lesbian,
gay, and bisexual studies have been discussed elsewhere (cf. Buhrke,
Ben-Ezra, Hurley, & Ruprecht, 1992; Chung & Katayama, in
press). Nevertheless, one important issue that deserves attention in
this article is the question of between-group studies versus
within-group studies.
Between-group methods as applied to lesbian,
gay, and bisexual studies usually involve comparing lesbian, gay, or
bisexual participants with heterosexuals. This approach is particularly
helpful in a new area of research such as the vocational behavior of
lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals. It provides descriptive data
that form the foundation for further inquiry and theory building. On
the other hand, this approach may be criticized for (a) using one group
(usually heterosexuals) as norms for comparison; (b) a tendency to
stereotype; and (c) a lack of consideration of within-group
differences. Therefore, researchers using this approach need to avoid
implicit or explicit implication of heterosexuals as norms or
standards. Consumers of between-group studies also need to keep in mind
that findings of group differences (or lack thereof) should only be
used as their knowledge base for working hypotheses when counseling
lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients and should not be used to stereotype
clients.
Within-group methods are complementary to
between-group methods and refer to the study of individual differences
within a group. One important value of within-group methods as applied
to lesbian, gay, and bisexual studies is the identification of unique
factors that operate differently among different sexual-orientation
groups. For example, one may study how bisexual identity development
may relate to one's career decision making. This within-group factor
(bisexual identity development) may be influential in the vocational
behavior of bisexual individuals but less influential, or even
irrelevant, to nonbisexual individuals.
Existing empirical research studying the
vocational behavior of lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals has
relied on between-group methods (e.g., Chung & Harmon, 1994;
Etringer et al., 1990; Whitam, 1983; Whitam & Mathy, 1986). This
phenomenon may reflect the natural development of a new area of
inquiry. A more balanced use of the two methods is encouraged and the
utility and limitations of the two approaches should be realized.
PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS
Although there are only a few empirical
studies about the vocational behavior of lesbian, gay, and bisexual
individuals, some practical implications may be made cautiously, based
on the issues discussed in this article. It is important to consider
personal and environmental factors when doing career counseling with
lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients. Counselors need to be sensitive to
clients' possible nontraditional career interests and skills as well as
special work values that are related to their sexual orientation.
Provision and exploration of information about various work
environments for sexual minority groups would be helpful. The research
questions discussed in this article regarding the interactive effects
of personal and environmental factors may be used as working hypotheses
and questions with individual clients in discussing career decisions.
Finally, as Croteau and Hedstrom (1993) suggested, issues common to
clients in general and factors unique to lesbian, gay, and bisexual
clients should be explored and integrated.
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~~~~~~~~
By Y. Barry Chung
Y. Barry Chung is a graduate student in
counseling psychology at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign. A version of this article was presented at the 1994
National Career Development Association National Conference in
Albuquerque, New Mexico. The author thanks Lenore W. Harmon for her
helpful suggestions. Correspondence regarding this article should be
sent to Y. Barry Chung, Department of Educational Psychology,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 210 Education Building,
1310 S. Sixth St., Champaign, IL 61820.
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